Another week, another get-together for a great meal. this time I made sukiyaki for a few of my non-Japanese friends. Some might call out blasphemy at me for not using an iron pan but I didn’t have one around ^^;.

Ingredients are as follows: Shiitake, shirataki, green onions, eryngii, enokitake, nappa cabbage, pork top loin, beef shortribs, and beef chuck eye… and I forgot to take a photo of the seared tofu. I bought and prepared all the ingredients ^^. For a little over $50, this fed seven adults so that’s pretty good I would say!

Normally, I would prepare my own tare (sauce) but I didn’t have any of the important ingredients (mirin and sake; the other ingredients being simply soy sauce and sugar) at home and I figured buying the pre-made stuff is more economical for this one time gathering. Sake is expensive!

Coke from Mexico>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Coke from the USA. It has no high fructose corn syrup and is made with real sugar. It tastes so much better! Why are American products so much better outside of the US?! Sense it does not make!

Hm… didn’t capture the whole “cooking” process because my hands weren’t available but basically you add the meat to the hot pot, let it grill a little, then you add the rest of the stuff in. I tried to arrange it nicely but my friends just threw them in like “whatever!” ^^;.

Fastest chopsticks win!

Because I was too busy swapping lens and taking photos, I completely missed the food and was left with a small piece of cabbage xD. No matter…

ROUND 2!

I didn’t really care for the meat. The tofu and mushrooms were where it’s at!

So… Does Sukiyaki looks like your type of food thing?

ROUND 3! This is when I really start getting my share of the food… I think we went for like 5-6 rounds before the food were depleted… and then we started throwing in cuttlefish balls and udon into the pot for good measures. At the end, everyone was full (of yum).

Then comes dessert courtesy of my friend. She definitely makes the best cupcakes in the world :D. oh so light and fluffy… haha

You got that right regarding the taste, there is something about the Mexican one that tastes much different and better than the American one. In fact, that presentation in the glass bottle is the one that tastes better out of them all and is also the most common one you can find in any food stand on the streets =D.